Monocercomonoides

Scientists Shocked To Discover Eukaryote With NO Mitochondria

May 13, 2016 | by Josh L Davis

photo credit: The microbe was actually found living in the gut of a chinchilla. Dr. Naoji Yubuki

   

For a long time it has been thought that all eukaryotes – organisms in which the DNA is enclosed in a membrane including almost all life we can see – had to contain mitochondria. Known as the “power house” of the cell, these little subunits within the cell provide the organisms with energy and were thus thought to be essential. But it now seems that actually they might not be that essential, as researchers describe the first eukaryote known that lacks mitochondria./.../